World

New York: Oscar winner Sandra Bullock is Hollywood's highest paid actress with estimated earnings of $51 million over 12 months, followed by Jennifer Lawrence and Jennifer Aniston, Forbes magazine said yesterday.

Sandra, 50, had a big hit last year with the space thriller film Gravity, which won seven Academy Awards including best director for Alfonso Cuaron, and made more than $716 million worldwide.

"Gravity star Sandra Bullock didn't win best actress this year but she did walk away with a ton of money," according to Forbes.com.

Hunger Games actress Lawrence, 23, came in second for the second consecutive year with estimated earnings of $34 million, while Aniston, 45, climbed one spot to No. 3 with $31 million.

Al Qaeda militants kill nine soldiers across Yemen

Aden: Militants have killed at least nine soldiers in attacks in south and eastern Yemen over the past three days, local officials said yesterday, just as the government sent more troops to the east to confront a growing Al Qaeda threat.

A local official told Reuters that a group of militants attacked a security checkpoint on a main road in Hadramout province in eastern Yemen early yesterday, killing six soldiers.

"The militants are believed to be from al Qaeda and they used machineguns to shoot the six soldiers," the official said.

On Saturday, three soldiers were killed in a similar attack in the southern Shabwa province, local officials told Reuters.

Only 8% Turkish expats vote in presidential polls

Ankara: Turnout among Turkish expatriates voting abroad for the first time fell short of expectations, officials said yesterday, with just 8 per cent of those eligible taking part in a presidential election which Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan is expected to win.

Voting abroad, mainly at embassies and consulates, began on July 31 and finished on Sunday.

"As of this morning, (voter) participation was around 8 per cent, but at least double or three times that was expected," a second senior AK Party official told Reuters.

Beijing to curb coal use

Beijing: Beijing will ban coal use in its six main districts by the end of 2020, state media cited the Beijing Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau as saying, as the Chinese capital steps up efforts to combat air pollution.